What Color is the Lens of your World View?

The stunning news of major painful events at home and abroad calls us to be especially thoughtful – and conscious about our responses. We can empathize with those who face these devastating events and acknowledge their experience. We may feel helpless, unable to “fix” these stunning, heart-wrenching situations. Even so, we can volunteer, offer prayer, contribute food or provide funds to support respected charitable organizations like World Vision, PATH or Scholarship America.

We can also be helpful by avoiding making matters worse. Joining the continuous retellings in the media and making it the frequent focus of conversations, expands the negative impact of the events themselves, Zig Ziglar calls that “awfulizing.” Regenerating, intensifying and magnifying the impact of these recent situations around the globe de-energizes us – and those around us. It is vital to handle Red Light challenges in a Green Light manner.

Red Light is the ungood stuff. Green Light® is the good stuff.* I can’t do anything about this. I can do one thing about this – and so I will.

Individuals have done amazing things in service to their global mates, often by starting something small that inspired others to participate and soon it grew into a surprising contribution. Stories abound that highlight a child who achieved astonishing results.

We drain our batteries by Redding. We charge them by Greening. Choosing the higher road, the one that diverges in a Green direction, energizes us.

Without minimizing or denying the difficulties and challenges of recent events, the fact remains that we can add to the grief and shock by repeating it repeatedly. This demoralizes us – and those with whom we are speaking. Good (or even neutral) intentions can unknowingly carry insidious toxic impacts. Often invisible, they de-energize and distress people – and decrease positive attitudes and actions.

Now is not the time to emphasize – in our thoughts and deeds – all that is “wrong” in the world – and how impossible it is to address. Rather, now is the time to courageously, responsibly and passionately take charge of our thoughts – and constructive actions.

We can be a demoralizer, the carrier and spreader of depressing messages –or we can be a contributor, an igniter of visions that spurs helpful actions.

We get to make our world (our view and experience of it) worser and worser – or brighter and brighter. We get to choose: find and focus on the good in the world and spread it – or do the opposite. Let us choose to be among the heroes and sheroes of these challenging times by initiating, switching and directing conversations and actions toward that which motivates, encourages and makes a positive difference in the world.

Let us equip ourselves to turn off Red Light conversations and turn on Green Light ones. Let us gather examples of good news and uplifting thoughts. Employ them to assist others in redirecting their focus – and thus how they experience the world. Foster the shift from what’s terrible, awful and unforgivable, from who’s at fault, who should be punished and how, to “What can I do right here, right now to make a positive difference in my world and others’?”

We are each part of the problem or part of the solution. At this time of great and varied challenges, we are called upon to conduct our lives at the highest, most inspirational, productive level ever. Our thoughts, words and actions shine Red Lights or Green Lights in our world and those we connect with. We can add misery or add joy. Let us choose joy.

Great appreciation and sincere commendations are extended to those who consciously go about living their lives as their best, ever-Greening selves. They thereby sustain, enhance and inspire others to switch their mental mode from Red, habitual, unconscious and undesirable patterns, to Green, intentional, conscious and preferable patterns.

Humankindness is a verb. We put it into play by Greening our thoughts, words and actions. It’s a Green world after all.

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* Green Light is a universal language, a skill set, a brain technology and a global movement.Green Light is a conscious choice to think, speak and ACT to make good things happen.The Green Light Scale ranges from 3 Red Lights to 3 Green Lights, from the worst case scenario to the Ideal Scenario. The Green Light Goal: Create the greatest good, for the most people, in the best way, for the longest time.